Pia Petersen, Translingualism and Disruption

Abstract

This article analyses the work of translingual writer Pia Petersen. It situates Petersen’s work within current debates about translingual writing and asks whether a translingual writer should be expected to draw attention to their multilingual background within their work. It argues that Petersen’s work is disruptive in both its form and content. In terms of content, Petersen engages in pointed social critique, highlighting the social injustice of contemporary French and American society. She also defends an approach to literature as an art form that should be respected and valued, not debased by market forces, consumption or popular appeal. Her work is also disruptive on a formal level, since she incorporates a variety of registers and phrases in English into her French language prose. This is not a writer who could be described as a multilingual author who incorporates several languages into her writing. But nor should we except her to do so. Instead, Petersen’s unique style reveals an attention to language, communication and disruption that suggests a translingual imagination.